Our Blog

The Ahmad Jamal Trio - The Awakening (1970)

A
collaboration of all the styles encompassed throughout Jamal's career,
The Awakening makes an excellent relaxing album, showing off Jamal's
piano chops with some excellent rhythmic grooves.

If there was
ever a man that never received the credit he deserved, that man was
Ahmad Jamal. Jamal played jazz piano differently from everyone else.
He had the classical chops to play all over the place and use his jazz
knowledge to run across the piano with all kinds of different scales,
but Jamal was smarter than that. He knew that 32nd note runs for 8
minutes straight would get boring and tiring. He used space and silence
so well that it inspired much of Miles Davis’ playing. However, the
world gives Davis the credit for revolutionizing that style of playing.
The general public doesn’t even list Jamal in the top ten jazz pianists
of all time. Obviously, that means nothing to Jamal, as displayed in
his track title I Love Music. That’s really all that matters, and that mindset shines through brilliantly on The Awakening.

The Awakening is about twenty years past when Jamal inspired Miles Davis
so directly. Jamal himself seems to have made an evolution in his
sound, allowing himself to show off his incredibly fast piano chops in
variation. He still plays with his trademark sparseness, but not to the
degree of Miles on his works like Sketches of Spain and Kind of Blue.
Being the only instrument capable of handling melody for any length of
time, Jamal forces himself to give some variety in his style of playing.
Also, being limited to only one sound, his style of playing and the
feel of the entire trio needs to be the main sources of variation to
keep the album interesting. To a considerable degree, Ahmad and his
trio pull it off well. Ranging from straight up swing to a completely
authentic bossanova style to a jazzy, Bill Evans-esque piano solo, the
variation in style is remarkable. Despite Jamal going all over the
place on the piano with all kinds of great rhythmic and harmonic
intricacy, the rhythm section locks itself in place and never lets
anything speed up or slow down.

However, Jamal is the star of the show, especially since I Love Music
is the best song on the album. The majority of the song is just Jamal,
showing off all of his piano skills. Despite the rhythmic speed and
complexity, the real focus is in the harmonic structure. It is
beautiful in so many ways, through its tasty chords and seemingly
frantic jumping around. Still, even in all its complexity, Jamal
manages to create memorable melodies and motifs. As a result of his
traditional sparse style, Jamal feels the need to create a true melody,
which makes I Love Music all the more enjoyable. Near the end,
the rest of the trio enters, allowing Jamal to lay back a bit. The song
stands as a jazz piano epic, far reaching and complex while still
showcasing some of the simplest moments on the album.

While I Love Music sweeps up the listener in its gorgeous rubato and wavering tempos, Patterns
lays down a great groove with a descending melody. The bass plays
along with Ahmad for the head before jumping into a quick yet groovy
bassline. It takes the stylings of Miles Davis on his earlier
electronic recordings such as Filles de Kilimanjaro and puts it with an
upright bass. It gives the atmosphere a slightly older feel, much more
acoustic. In 1970, entirely acoustic music was beginning to die away,
so The Awakening came as a breath of old, yet still fresh. The ending
of the song has the greatest climax possible for a song as laid back as Patterns,
a giant slowdown with epic piano chords that Jamal still plays with a
delicacy. Hammering them and filling the recording would simply destroy
the mood of the song. Patterns shows the mix of an old atmosphere with modern harmonization and grooves

Ahmad Jamal and his trio make excellent jazz music that draws together
the best of both worlds. Utilizing many different grooves, including
swing and a funkier fusion style while mixing it with modern harmonies
and a timeless instrumental atmosphere, The Awakening is certainly worth
a listen. The album shows more than just Ahmad Jamal. His rhythm
section lays down fantastic grooves, no matter what style they are in.
They prove to be excellently trained jazz musicians and able to keep up
with Jamal’s piano. Although known for his sparseness and usage of
space, Jamal takes a turn showing many huge runs. Still, he creates
memorable melodies that keep the album interesting and immediately
listenable. (source)